Most Australian children do not get enough physical activity each day for growth and healthy development. In the recent 2018 Active Healthy Kids Australia Physical Activity Report Card, Australia scored a D- for overall physical activity level, placing us in a tie for 32nd place out of 49 participating countries. Children with cerebral palsy (CP) are particularly at risk for low levels of physical activity and low rates of participation in community sports and physical recreation. Effective ways to promote physical activity in children with CP are desperately needed. Participate-CP, a model of participation-focused therapy to promote participation in physical activities has been developed to respond to this emerging problem. Participate-CP recognizes the role of environmental factors in restricting participation for youth with disabilities. Therapists assist families to set meaningful goals around their child’s participation and employ strategies to overcome barriers.
In late August we hosted therapists from Sydney, Cairns and Perth for the first ever training session in Participate-CP. The program was kicked off by a day of introductory training in Motivational Interviewing (MI) by renowned and engaging Psychologist and accredited MI trainer, Dr Stan Steindl. Therapists are now ready to start recruiting children with CP aged 8-12 to participate in the study. Participate-CP is a large, multi-site study led by QCPRRC Senior Research Fellow Dr Leanne Sakzewski. The therapy was developed by Dr Sarah Reedman, Postdoctoral Research Fellow at QCPRRC and the results have now been published in Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. We are excited to be able to bring Participate-CP to more children across Australia, including in regional settings.
Sites: Brisbane, Cairns, Sydney, NSW Regional, and Perth (+150km radius from each site).
Contact Details: Mika Shimada, Study Coordinator, m.shimada@uq.edu.au and 07 3069 7356; Dr Sarah Reedman, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, s.reedman@uq.edu.au and 07 3069 7336.
This project is funded by NHMRC 1140756.
Chief Investigators: Dr Leanne Sakzewski, Prof. Catherine Elliott, Prof. Roslyn Boyd, Prof Jenny Ziviani, Prof. Iona Novak, Prof Stewart Trost, Prof. Annette Majnemer.
Associate Investigators: Dr David Rowell, Dr Keiko Shikako-Thomas, Prof Robert Ware.
For more information : PARTICIPATE-CP webpage
